Business Travel Tips and Tricks

While traveling with a buddy a few weeks back, he asked for me to tell him all my travel tips. I never really thought about the tips and tricks I have learned and picked up over the years. But, as we maneuvered along between parking lots, ticketing kiosks, security lines, and even my favorite gate-side bar, I recalled aloud what and why I was doing things in certain ways. Now, let me make it clear that I am not necessarily of the level of traveler that Mr. Clooney made famous in his recent movie. As a point of comparison, he averaged nearly 7,000 miles per week (according to the movie anyway), while I am between 4,000 and 5,000. Nevertheless, here are some tips and tricks I picked up along the way. I have attempted to categorized them so as to avoid a stream of conciousness.

Getting Through Security
This was a highlight of Mr. Clooney's movie, and many of these were implied or stated out right. Regardless, here is how I manage to get through several times a week with minimal stress and time wasted.

• Get in the habit of tossing your keys and any loose change into a pocket of your briefcase or carry-on as you get out of your car or off the shuttle. Make sure your wallet has nothing metal inside and you should not have to remove it. Even a Blackberry holster can be passed through still on your hip. Whatever you carry around, know what goes and what doesn't and establish a routine for placing those items in the bin(s). Whenever possible, slip those things into your briefcase or carry-on.
• If you travel in dress clothes, wear slip-on dress shoes. If you are lucky enough to travel casual, wear slip-on shoes. However and wherever you are traveling, wear slip-on shoes, even if it means loosely tieing your tennis shoes for slip-on capability.
• Figure out which of your belts can make it through the arches and which ones solicit the beeping. Typically, dress belts do not give me issues. If they do, I just no longer wear them when traveling.
• Ole' George was certainly right about getting behind the "right" people in security lines. However, this is seldomly an option in most airports in which I have traveled. The people you end up behind are often figured out for you as you weave through the chutes. So, instead, look for security portals at the end of gates/terminals. People tend to gravitate to the portals near the major airlines, and those are usually near the middle of the terminals. There are often smaller and less busy check points around the smaller ticketing counters that are often near the ends of the terminals.

Packing

• First, learn to be honest with yourself about the amount of clothes you need to pack. Even with free baggage checking as an elite member, it is a goal to avoid ever checking bags. It usually adds a minimum of 10 minutes departing and 20 minutes arriving.
• Traveling with suits is a pain for many reasons. If you have to do it, there are a few things you can do to make it not so big of a deal:

1. First, hang the pants, dress shirt (the one you intend to wear with that suit) and coat on the same, nice wooden hanger (like the ones in your hotel room, but buy your own.)
2. Then, using a suit bag (you probably have one from the department store where you purchased your suit) stack the suits inside and lay them flat on a bed.
3. Push the air from the bag and fold it over, from the hanger end first, about the height of the hanger. Fold again and again (should be two full folds with some remaining empty bag at the end) until you have a tight rectangular fold.
4. Place this brick at the bottom of your carry-on. The long ends may have to fold up a little to fit all the way down, but you shouldn't have to fold the suits anymore. With the suit bag, you can place your shoe soles down on it and not worry about staining any clothes.
5. Finally, and one of the best tricks I have picked up, when you arrive at your hotel, separate the jacket/pants/shirt on those nice wooden hangers. Hang them separately in the shower and turn it on full hot. Point the shower head to avoid a direct stream hitting your clothes. The steam takes about 10 minutes to get the majority of wrinkles from your clothes. You may still need to pass an iron on your dress shirt, but the jacket and pants should be good-to-go!

• I do my best to avoid over-packing, but I have also been diverted to other cities at the last minute or have had to stay over the weekend unexpectedly. When this happens, you can usually re-wear a suit or dress clothes, but those underwear are a different story. So, if I don't want to pack extra underwear, I make it a point to pack a pair of ExOfficio underwear. They pride themselves on these underwear being able to be rinsed in the sink and dried overnight for a fresh, clean pair. At $25 for a single pair, they are steep, but worth it in a pinch.
• Find a hygiene kit that you don't have to pull from your carry-on everytime it goes through the x-ray. I found the perfect setup by purchasing a handful of facial products (for men no less). It is basically a zippered, clear plastic bag with three outer pouches. I put non-liquid stuff in the three non-zippered pouches and TSA approved sizes of my liquids (deoderant, hair wax, tooth paste and shaving cream) in the zippered portion. By putting it in the outer pocket, I have never been asked to pull it from my luggage.

Travel Clubs

• Zero in on the best airline and stick with them as much as it makes sense financially. Your home base will usually dictate the best airline. While it is great to have your credit card feed your point balance, it is useless if it is for an airliner that doesn't operate out of your home airport.
• Study the rules and regulations of any and all clubs to which you belong. There are often loopholes or special programs that will allow you to climb the ranks faster. For example, American Airlines has a "challenge" program that will allow you to jump up to Platinum if you sign up and fly 10,000 miles in 3 months as a "nobody".
• Know the different chains of your preferred hotel properties. Just when you think there is no Hilton property in the area to which you are traveling, you realize Embassy Suites is a Hilton property!
• Regardless of the travel clubs you decide to "stick with", join them all! You never know when you will have no choice but to stay at a non-preferred property or fly on a regional ariline. It can't hurt to earn the miles/points you are owed.
• Once you have any elite status, USE IT! If you need something (or just want it), ask for it. Whether it is an upgraded room with a bigger bed, or a seat up front with the free drinks, ask for it. All they can say is, "no".

Miscellaneous

• Note where you park. I have spent one too many late evenings paying a taxi cab to drive me around the parking garage to look for my car. I use the voice recorder on my cell phone to note the terminal/level/row. I will even note where along that row if it isn't clear by the signage. If you don't have a voice recorder, try leaving yourself a voicemail.
• Buy some metal collar stiffeners and pack them in your hygiene kit. This has been one of the best $25 investments ever. They stay straight and don't get fused inside the slot like the cheapo plastic ones. With a little diligence, you can remove them when you undress and place them back in the handy little plastic case, stretching the $25 set for months on end.
• Pack some exercise clothes and tennis shoes. Life "on the road" can be a detriment to your health in several ways. Luckily, most decent hotels have a reputable fitness center. Get down there and spend some time on the tread mill to help, at a minimum, offset the elbow-rubbing dinners with buttered steaks and desserts.
• Always check back to improve your seat location, unless you enjoy being in a middle seat next to the bathroom. Leading up to your day of travel, there is almost always a better seat available to change to for free.